16-Keto-17-substituted thia-17-alkyl(or alkenyl or alkynyl) androstenes

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 576,668, filed Feb. 3, 1984, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR4## wherein X is hydrogen, alkyl or aryl; X 1 is hydrogen, alkyl, ##STR5## alkylthio, alkoxy, fluoro, hydroxyalkyl, cyanoalkyl, alkoxycarbonyl--(CH 2 ) p )--, mono-, di- or trifluoroalkyl, or ##STR6## wherein p is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4, Y 1 is alkyl or aryl, and Y 2 and Y 3 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or alkyl; and X 2 is alkyl, alkenyl or alkynyl.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,559, issued Nov. 30, 1982, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) 3-ketoandrostenes having in the 17-position the substituents A 1 --S-- and A 2 --S-- wherein A 1 and A 2 are the same or different and each is alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,840, issued June 13, 1978, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR7## wherein A 3 is --, S-- ##STR8## A 4 is alkyl, aryl, acyloxyalkyl, and the A 5 groups are halogen.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,091,036, issued May 23, 1978, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR9## wherein A 3 and A 4 are as defined above, and A 6 and A 7 are the same or different and are hydrogen, alkyl, alkoxy, carboalkoxy, formyl, ##STR10## hydroxy, halogen, phenyl or cyano, with the proviso that when A 6 and A 7 are different, one of A 6 and A 7 is hydrogen.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,538, issued Mar. 27, 1979, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR11## wherein A 3 and A 4 are as defined above, and A 8 and A 9 are the same or different and are hydrogen, halogen, alkyl, or alkoxy, or A 8 and A 9 together with the benzene ring to which they are attached form a naphthalene group.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,815, issued May 5, 1981 discloses (as chemical intermediates) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR12## wherein A 10 is alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl or acyloxyalkyl and A 11 is chloro, bromo, alkoxy, aryloxy, alkylthio or arylthio.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,733, issued Feb. 24, 1981, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR13## wherein A 12 is alkyl or aryl, A 13 is oxygen or sulfur and A 14 is alkyl or arylalkyl, or together the A 14 groups are --(CH 2 )-- 2 or 3.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,428, issued Dec. 13, 1983 discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR14## wherein A 13 and A 14 are the same or different and each is alkyl, cycloalkyl or aryl.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,592, issued Jan. 24, 1984, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR15## wherein one of A 15 and A 16 is alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or cycloalkyl, and the other is alkenyl, substituted alkenyl, alkynyl, substituted alkynyl, mono-, di- or trifluoroalkyl, cyanoalkyl, alkanoylalkyl or ##STR16## wherein p is 1, 2, 3 or 4 and Y 4 and Y 5 are the same or different and each is hydrogen or alkyl, and A 17 is hydrogen, hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy, oxo, methylene, alkylthio, arylthio, alkanoyl, alkanoyloxy or fluorine.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,426, issued May 8, 1984, discloses (as antiinflammatory agents) androstenes having the partial structural formula ##STR17## wherein one of A 18 and A 19 is alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, or --CH 2 X 3 wherein X 3 is alkylthio, alkoxy, aroyloxy, alkanoyloxy or alkoxycarbonyl, and the other is alkylthioalkyl, alkoxyalkyl, alkanoyloxyalkyl, aroyloxyalkyl, alkoxycarbonylalkyl, carboxylalkyl or arylalkyl and A 20 is hydrogen, hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy, oxo, methylene, alkylthio, arylthio, alkanoyl, alkanoyloxy, or halogen.

Steroids having the formula ##STR18## have antiinflammatory activity. In formula I, and throughout the specification, the symbols are as defined below.

R 1 is alkyl, mono-, di- or trifluoroalkyl, ##STR19## aryl or alkylthioalkyl, wherein R 6 is alkyl or aryl and m is 1, 2, 3 or 4;

R 2 is ##STR20## wherein R 7 , R 8 and R 9 are each independently hydrogen of alkyl or 1 to 4 carbon atoms;

R 3 is carbonyl or β-hydroxymethylene;

R 4 is hydrogen or halogen;

R 5 is hydrogen, methyl or fluorine; and

n is 0, 1 or 2;

with the proviso that if R 1 is alkylthioalkyl, n is 0. The dotted line in the 1,2-position of the structural formulas shown in this specification indicate the optional presence of ethylenic unsaturation.

The term "aryl", are used throughout the specification either individually or as part of a larger group, refers to phenyl or phenyl substituted with one, two or three alkyl, alkoxy or halogen groups.

The term "halogen", as used throughout the specification either individually or as part of a larger group, refers to fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine.

The terms "alkyl" and "alkoxy", as used throughout the specification either individually or as part of a larger group, refer to groups having 1 to 12 carbon atoms.

The steroids of formula I, and the 1,2-dehydro and 6,7-dehydro derivatives thereof, are topical antiinflammatory agents that can be used to treat skin conditions such as dermatitis, psoriasis, sunburn, eczema, neurodermatitis, or anogenital pruritus, and inhalation therapy for topical treatment of allergy and asthma.

For the treatment of skin conditions, the topical antiinflammatory steroids of this invention may be administered in a conventional pharmaceutical carrier in the form of a cream, ointment, lotion or the like. The steroids will preferably be used in the range of 0.01 to 5.0% by weight of the vehicle, preferably 0.05 to 2.0% by weight of the vehicle.

For the topical treatment of allergy and asthma, the topical antiinflammatory steroids of this invention may be administered in the conventional manner, e.g., as solid medicament which has been atomized. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,948,264 and 4,147,166 are exemplary of the literature which describes devices that can be used to administer solid medicaments for inhalation therapy.

The steroids of formula I can be prepared using the corresponding steroid having the formula ##STR21## as a starting material. These steroids are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,361,559, issued Nov. 30, 1982, 4,427,592, issued Jan. 24, 1984, and 4,447,426, issued May 8, 1984.

Reaction of a steroid of formula II with a compound having the formula ##STR22## in the presence of an inorganic base (e.g., sodium hydride) yields the corresponding steroid having the formula ##STR23## The steroids of formula IV are novel intermediates, and as such, form an integral part of this invention.

Thermolysis of an intermediate of formula IV, preferably in an aromatic solvent (e.g., diethylbenzene) yields the corresponding steroid product having the formula ##STR24##

Treatment of a product of formula V with a transition metal catalyst (e.g., palladium on carbon or rhodium chloride) or an acid catalyst yields the isomeric product having the formula ##STR25##

Hydrogenation of a product of formula V in the presence of a catalyst such as triphenylphosphine rhodium chloride yields the corresponding product having the formula ##STR26##

The sulfides of formula I (n is 0) can be oxidized to the corresponding sulfinyl steroids (products of formula I, n is 1) or sulfonyl steroids (products of formula I, n is 2) with peracids (e.g., m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid or periodic acid). The use of one equivalent of oxidizing agent will yield predominantly a sulfoxide and the use of two or more equivalents of oxidizing agent will yield predominantly a sulfone. The oxidation reaction can be run in an organic solvent, e.g., a halogenated hydrocarbon such as chloroform. Alternatively, the sulfonyl steroids of formula I can be prepared by oxidizing the corresponding sulfinyl steroid.

The following example is a specific embodiment of this invention.

(11β, 17β)-9-Fluoro-11-hydroxy-17-(methylthio)-17-(2-propenyl)androsta-1,4-dien-3,16-dione

(A) (11β, 16α)-11-(Acetyloxy)-9-fluoro-17,17-bis-(methylthio)-16-(2-propenyloxy)androsta-1,4-dien-3,16-dione

A solution of 11β-(acetyloxy)-9-fluoro-16α-hydroxy-17,17-bis(methylthio)androsta-1,4-dione-3-one (1.0 g, 2.2 mmole) in dry tetrahydrofuran (15.0 ml) was cooled in an ice bath and a 1.7M solution of n-butyl lithium in hexane (1.35 ml, 2.30 mmole) was added. After 5.0 minutes, dry dimethylformamide (5.0 ml) was added, followed by allyl bromide (1.0 ml). After 2.0 hours, tlc examination of an aliquot showed essentially complete absence of the starting steroid. The mixture was then added into water and extracted with chloroform. The extracts were combined, washed with water, dried (anhydrous magnesium sulfate) and evaporated to afford the crude product. This was subjected to a preparative tlc on four 2.0×200×200 mm silica gel plates (using chloroform-ethyl acetate (9:1) for development and chloroform-methanol (3:1) for extraction of the bands) to isolate, in the order of increasing polarity, the following compounds: two minor components which were not characterized (95 mg), the title compound (630 mg), (11β,16α)-9 -fluoro-11-hydroxy-17,17-bis(methylthio)-16-(2-propenyloxy)-androsta-1,4-dien-3-one (180 mg) and unreacted starting material (110 mg). The (11β,16α)-9-fluoro-11-hydroxy-17,17-bis(methylthio)-16-(2-propenyloxy)androsta-1,4-dien-3-one presumably resulted because of moisture present in the solvents. The title compound showed an 1 H NMR spectrum consistent with the structure.

(B) (11β,16α)-9-Fluoro-11-hydroxy-17,17-bis(methylthio)-16-(2-propenyloxy)androsta-1,4-dien-3-one

A solution of (11β,16α)-11-(acetyloxy)-9-fluoro-17,17-bis(methylthio)-16-(2-propenyloxy)-androsta-1,4-dien-3,16-dione (594 mg, 1.2 mmole) in a mixture of methanol (15 ml) and tetrahydrofuran (15 ml) was stirred with 3M sodium hydroxide (2.0 ml) under an atmosphere of nitrogen for 1.0 hour. A slight excess of glacial acetic was then added and the mixture was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was diluted with water and extracted with chloroform. The chloroform extracts were combined, washed with water, dried (anhydrous magnesium sulfate), evaporated and mixed with the material (180 mg) isolated earlier (see part A) to afford a homogeneous (tlc) solid (700 mg). One crystallization of this from ethyl acetate and drying (110° C., 0.3 mm of Hg, 6.0 hours) afforded the analytical specimen of the title compound (520 mg) as heavy white prisms, melting point 226°-227° C. (dec.), with consistent spectral data.

Anal. Calc'd. for C 24 H 33 FO 3 S 2 : C, 63.68; H, 7.35; S, 14.17; F, 4.20; Found: C, 63.96; H, 7.52; S, 14.22; F, 4.32

(C) (11β,17β)-9-Fluoro-11-hydroxy-17-(methylthio)-17-(2-propenyl)androsta-1,4-dien-3,16-dione

A suspension of (11β,16α)-9-fluoro-11-hydroxy-17,17-bis(methylthio)-16-(2-propenyloxy)-androsta-1,4-diene-3-one (460 mg, 1.02 mmole) in distilled, dry diethylbenzene (20 ml) was refluxed under a drying tube. A solution resulted, which turned yellow in color. After less than one-half hour, examination of an aliquot of the solution by tlc showed the absence of the starting steroid. The solution was then cooled to room temperature and was filtered through a column of silica gel (10 g) using chloroform-hexane (1:1) for the filtration. This filtrate was discarded. Subsequent elution of the column with chloroform-ethyl acetate (9:1) followed by evaporation of the eluates furnished the title compound as a slightly contaminated solid (367 mg). This was once crystallized from ethyl acetate and dried (110° C., 0.3 mm of Hg, 6.0 hours) to afford the analytical specimen as white heavy prisms (238 mg), melting point 223°-224° C., with consistent spectra data.

Anal. Calc'd. for C 23 H 29 FO 3 S: C, 68.29; H, 7.23; F, 4.70; S, 7.93; Found: C, 68.06; H, 7.18; F, 4.76; S, 7.88